Obesity In Dogs

What most owners think of as regular exercises, like a trip around the block, fat of overweight dogs doesn’t really burn a ton of calories. That’s why exercise isn’t the only thing to adjust if you’re trying to help your dog lose weight or prevent weight gain. You should exercise your dog for a number of reasons, but no matter what, if you feed him excess calories, he’s still likely to gain weight.

Clearly dogs who exercise less appear predisposed to obesity, and obese and overweight dogs are less active. It’s a classic “what comes first, the chicken or the egg?” situation. Activity monitors have documented that this is true even during the day when their owners are away. “Whether this is cause or effect of obesity is not entirely clear,” says Shmalberg. “However, some studies have suggested that single dogs—that is, no other dog in the household—are at increased risk. So some social interaction, whether with you or another dog, does likely impact metabolism.”

• Hypothyroidism is a common cause of lowered metabolism in dogs, especially middle-aged dogs. Your vet will check for it with a quick blood test.

• Cushing’s syndrome is the name of the condition in which a dog produces too much cortisol (the “stress hormone”). It can lead to increased appetite, loss of muscle mass, and increased fat stores and weight gain.

• Osteoarthritis and other painful conditions may cause a dog’s activity level to dip, which often leads to weight gain.

• Reduced lifespan: A study of related Labradors showed that obesity in dogs lived 1.8 years less than their lean counterparts.
• Osteoarthritis: In that same study, obesity in dogs displayed earlier and more severe arthritis than lean dogs. The condition may stem in part from the extra load a heavier body puts on joints, but it’s now thought it’s also, and more significantly, a result of the inflammatory state obesity causes in the body.
• Slower recovery after surgery: Weight loss in overweight dogs appears to help them recover faster from major surgeries, like repair of the cranial cruciate ligament (similar to the human ACL).
• Decreased activity: Research looking at activity monitors has shown that overweight dogs move far less frequently than their lean peers. This only compounds the problem.
• Poor quality of life: Quality-of-life scoring by owners clearly shows a difference in the overall wellness of lean dogs versus overweight dogs, and suggests that lean dogs are both healthier and happier.

• Heat intolerance: Overweight dogs are far more likely to die from heatstroke than dogs of a healthy weight.
• Skin disease: Nonallergic skin diseases have been documented at higher rates in dogs with excess weight.
• Cancer: Some—but not all—types of cancers appear to be more common in overweight dogs or obesity in dogs.
• Worsened respiratory disease: Conditions like tracheal collapse, common in many small breeds, is aggravated by the effects of excess fat. Same goes for brachycephalic syndrome, the respiratory difficulty that occurs in some short-faced dogs like pugs.
• Metabolic effects: Excess fat appears to cause changes in insulin sensitivity (which affects blood sugar levels) and in the levels of fats within the blood. Interestingly, however, diabetes doesn’t to be a side effect of obesity in dogs, unlike in both humans and cats.

• An obese puppy may face even more detrimental effects. Extra weight can put a strain on a young dog’s growing skeletal frame and impact growth hormones, which can lead to increased inflammation. “We also know that overweight puppies are more likely to suffer from developmental orthopedic disease, which is a complex of possible problems characterized by abnormal growth of bones and joint structures,” says Shmalberg. “This can cause gait problems, limb deformities, bone, and joint pain, and set up a situation that predisposes the dog to early onset arthritis.” Fat Dogs, Obesity in Dogs, Overweight Dogs information

The most critical factor in any dog weight-loss plan is diet—and both the type of food and the amount matter. Exercise is always encouraged, but exercise alone is usually insufficient for substantial weight loss. What’s really important to remember is that weight loss needs to be a family or household affair. It takes dedication and commitment from every one of your dog’s guardians to ensure he stays on track (and that stray treats don’t slip into the mix). “A dog’s failure to lose weight is usually related to an owner’s failure to feed him the appropriate number of calories,” says Shmalberg. If you’re ready to learn how to put a dog on a diet, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s how to help your dog lose weight, step by step.

• Find your dog’s ideal body weight. Consult your vet — then you’ll have what you need to determine how many calories he should eat daily.
• Establish a weight-monitoring plan. Begin with an accurate read of your dog’s starting weight, followed by the overweight dogs’ diet plan for regular weigh-ins. For big dogs, you may want to talk to your vet about coming in on a schedule (we recommend every two weeks). You can weigh smaller dogs at home on a regular scale: First, weigh yourself, then weigh yourself while holding the dog, and subtract the first number from the second. These days, you can also buy fairly inexpensive pet scales, suitable for a range of dog sizes, online.
• Calculate your dog’s initial daily calorie intake. This is usually calculated by your vet, but you can also use the equation 70 x (Ideal Body Weight in kg)^0.75. Remember to use her ideal body weight. An alternative approach for overweight dogs is to cut their daily calories by about one-third.
• Factor in treats. Treats count in your dog’s daily calorie intake, so figure out a reasonable number of treats you’ll offer per day, and total up their calorie content. Consider training treats that have just a few calories each. Subtract this number from the total daily calories (above), and then you’ll know the exact final amount of calories your dog should get in food. Try rewarding good behavior with a toy, interaction, or some other enrichment that doesn’t involve calories. And let all members of the household and guests know about your dog’s diet to steer them away from offering treats or table scraps.
• Ramp up activity. Encourage slow and steady increases in exercise throughout the weight-loss plan.

• Set a schedule. Feed your dog at least two meals per day; more frequent meals may burn even more calories.
• Recheck weight after two weeks on the diet. Ideally, your dog will be losing between 0.5 to 2 percent of his starting body weight per week or about 2 to 8 percent per month. Initially, he may lose weight at a faster rate because of a loss of water weight—so if you see he’s lost more than 2 percent per week early on, there’s no need to adjust.
• Adjust calories as needed. Monitor your dog’s weight loss and increase or decrease her calorie intake to make sure you’re hitting the target rate. If you have to decrease her intake, and she seems like she can’t get full, try adding a little water or even very low-calorie veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, celery) to her food.
• Monitor progress post-diet. When your dog reaches his target weight, don’t increase calories too soon or too dramatically—doing so could lead to rebound weight gain. “A dog’s metabolism may never normalize to pre-overweight levels, so you always will need to be a little careful with calories,” says Shmalberg. For dogs that do need a few more calories to maintain their trim figure, it’s typically about 10 to 15 percent more than what they were fed during the weight-loss plan.
• Identify the right food and Amount of it. In the section below, we cover the topic of choosing the right diet food for your dog. Premeasured foods tailored to your dog’s weight (like Dogsshop) are the best option. Weighing the food is the next most accurate, followed by precise measuring cups (a 1/4-cup scoop is much better than using the 1/4-cup line on a 2-cup scoop).

Dietary protein: If your dog is overweight, you want her to lose fat while preserving muscle mass. Protein is critical to the maintenance and growth of skeletal muscle, which is key to mobility. Studies have found that increased dietary protein may help preserve muscle tissue in dogs on weight-loss plans. “Protein also requires more energy to break down in the dog’s body than fat or carbs, so protein calories may be more beneficial for weight loss too,” says Shmalberg. As for how much protein, clinical studies suggest that 75 grams per 1,000 calories of food is the minimal amount needed to preserve lean body mass—but even more may be beneficial. Check out our calculator here to learn more.

More essential vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids: The whole purpose of weight-loss dog food is that you can restrict the number of calories. But, you don’t want to restrict the essential nutrients your pet needs. A food with elevated amounts of vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids ensures your pet gets what he needs even when he’s eating less overall.

Extra fiber and/or water: We all know that pets used to getting a certain amount of food won’t be super impressed when that amount suddenly gets cut by a third. A food with high fiber or water content allows you to give your dog a greater volume of food without changing the calories, says Shmalberg. For fiber, look for foods that incorporate fiber-rich veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, celery, and green beans. You can also try adding low-calorie, high-fiber veggies to existing meals. Getting more water into meals is easy: choose canned or fresh foods (kibble usually has less than 10 percent water, while canned or fresh is generally more than 70 percent). Or soak Kibble in water for a few minutes before feeding.

Easy to portion: Having a food pre-weighed in the exact amounts takes out all of the guesswork (we tailor individual portions to each dog’s needs). If that isn’t an option, weighing food, while it can be a pain, is the most accurate way to measure calories. Otherwise, uniformly shaped food is best for maintaining consistent calories by volume, e.g. if you’re using a measuring cup.

Palatable: During a diet, you want your dog to still be interested in eating. One of the biggest challenges with some weight-loss foods is palatability, likely because of the extra fiber or because it contains less fat and weight loss for obese dogs Canned or fresh food may be the best way to go because it has more discernible taste and smell than kibble, which dogs typically respond to.

Natural supplements: There’s some evidence that certain natural supplements, either in the food or given separately, may be helpful, says Shmalberg. These include L-carnitine, which helps mitochondria in cells use fat for energy; fish oil, which contains EPA and DHA, two fatty acids which help regulate hormones linked to obesity in dogs; and herbal supplements like green tea extract and cinnamon, which may help to combat some of the effects of obesity in dogs on insulin resistance and reduced metabolism. Consult your vet for advice on dosage.

Here’s how to design a dog exercise plan:

So, is there such a thing as a diet pill for dogs or an appetite suppressant for dogs? In short, no. According to Shmalberg, there’s no longer any medication available to help pets lose weight. Several years ago, a drug known as Slentrol (or dirlotapide) was on the market—it appeared to help dogs feel full by increasing the concentration of a particular hormone, and also seemed to prevent fat from being absorbed. On Slentrol, dogs lost weight at rates similar to what they would on a diet, but without cutting back food. But after side effects surfaced in some cases—vomiting, diarrhea, and changes in liver values—the drug was discontinued by the manufacturer, and no replacement exists.

Like dog diet pills, weight-loss surgeries don’t really exist for overweight dogs. “Calorie restriction is generally so effective and completely under the control of owners,” says Shmalberg, “so there isn’t any surgical fix offered right now. Bariatric surgeries like those done in people have been used in research—but it’ll probably be some time, if ever, before they become viable options.”